Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

1998’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas“, directed by Terry Gilliam.

Starring Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Craig Bierko, Tobey Maguire, Ellen Barkin,  Cameron Diaz, Christopher Meloni, Christina Ricci, and Flea.

What is it about?

“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” is based off of the 1971 Hunter S. Thompson novel, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream”. Eccentric author Thompson was credited for creating the “Gonzo Journalism” genre, where journalists wouldn’t just report the news, but would be at the centre of it. “…Savage Journey…”’s 2 wild protagonists, Raoul Duke (a pseudonym for Hunter Thompson himself) and Dr. Gonzo, are played here by Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, respectively. We see Depp and Del Toro, travel to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, and then a narcotics convention for law enforcement officials, but they get wrapped up in their fully committed recreational drug use. In the neon soaked Sin City, will they able to keep the hippie dream alive and figure out why they went there in the first place?

Why is it worth seeing?

Director Terry Gilliam has never been one for making easily digestible work, so his pairing with the unique Thompson seems like a match made in heaven. Gilliam brings his trademark funhouse sensibilities, to a story about 2 men doing essentially every drug on the planet, in one of the most morally bankrupt places in America. The result is a psychedelic grudge match where there’s as much hallucination as there is ugly truth.

Back when Johnny Depp tried, he spent a lot of time getting Thompson’s bizarre mannerisms and quirky speech patterns down pat. And Del Toro gained 45 lbs for the role of the Samoan attorney who gets Depp out of some tough scrapes. Their methods coalesce to create an authentic ugly flashback, accelerated by Gilliam’s fisheye lenses and crooked sight lines framing various depraved locales of Las Vegas.

Viewed through a gonzo lens, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” was always meant to highlight the death of the 1960’s counter culture movement. Here, we are shown a chicken and egg argument, as the main characters descend into substance accelerated depravity, in a society where the pursuit and occasional achievement of the American Dream is pursued at all costs. On the one hand, our heroes wander through various funhouse and trashed hotel room scenarios, zonked out of their minds (Thompson is bizarre but sometimes thoughtful, but Del Toro’s character is a detestable pig). On the other hand, the society depicted here, with hopelessly out of touch authorities and greedy yuppies, is consumed by Fear and Loathing of the hippies who threatened the corporate hegemony. Which came first: individual depravity or societal rot?

Filled with parts that are either hilarious, or packed with menacing vibrations from reprehensible characters, “Fear and Loathing” is a deeply personal film. It’s often depraved, but also deeply mournful about the death of one era, and the reveal that there just may not be someone tending the light at the end of the tunnel.

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.